Here is my perspective - I am as out of state as it gets and will flee Texas at graduation if i go there. A note about some of my biases: I am very liberal and went to a state school for undergrad, where I was an out of stater. Overall I liked the school and the amtosphere was great. I am still unsure though. Here are my thoughts (if they seem negatives, its only because thats the way i think)

-It clearly wasnt very well organized - the events were sort of repetitive and there wasnt a board student representation - everyone seemed to be very similiar in their involvement and thoughts about the school (some of that is to be expected as it is a self selecting grouo).- it did seem like a place where students challenged each other in a healthy way, rather than a super-compettive way (great for me)- its more conservative than other similiarly ranked schools - both students and profs was my impression.- as noted above - they beat us over the head with the this is a national school - which was good to a point because that was one of questions - but for some reason they didnt completly sell me on that point and i still fear i will graduate and not get a job in the states i want to live doing something i want to do. It felt like a school where if you do well you can practice anywhere, but if you arent in the top 25% you might not.- it seemed like Career Services was focused on getting us into big law programs - which is understandable, but as someone who may not want that, i still have some uncertainty.- It was my first time in Texas, and I really liked Austin and think it would be a great place to be in school. Most everyone was friendly and interested in meeting people. There werent too many good ol boys, but the whole flavor of the prospies was Southern. There didnt seem to be a lot of out of staters available to talk to, which left me a little uneasy because one of the things i didnt like about my undergrad was that i felt like an outsider because i didnt grow up in that state - felt a little too similiar for me. - the facilities were not great - really weird rooms, few outlets and dark archecture.- there was nowhere to eat by the school!!!! if you are there 10 hours a day, where does one get lunch???- I met someone going to UVa who didnt know where Northwestern was and my jaw almost dropped because i couldnt believe someone that smart could be that shelterd. - People seemed happy there, which is an accomplishment for a law school.- People love UT football, which is great, but I dont know if i see myself going to games while in law school.

those are my thoughts - a little scattered but i am still proccessing. also at work, so cant take too much time to edit.

aparently, they're building a cafeteria/lunch area thingy in the LS building that will be done by next year (I suspect it will have a fast food chain or two in it, but I don't really know). It's in what is (or was) called the Casino (near the journals).

It looked an awful lot to me like the breakpoint for getting that 5k/yr was about 168, not 165. I originally got nothing (167), waved some other scholarship offers at them and got $2500, then appealed again on the grounds of personal wonderfulness and got the 5k.

I got a 170, and UT hasn't mentioned anything about scholarships. I'm thinking my 3.45 UG GPA hurt me, even though it was in Engineering.

LonghornDUG

- there was nowhere to eat by the school!!!! if you are there 10 hours a day, where does one get lunch???

There are actually lots of places to eat on/around campus.

Close by, there are a few little lunch-type places at Red River and 26th street. The back of the law school backs up to Red River, so they're just a short walk away. There are also some places that lots of people go for lunch across 26th street from the engineering buildings. They're at 26th and San Jacinto -- again, a very short walk.

On campus, there is an AMAZING little restaurant in the Computer Sciences building, which is 3-4 blocks away. And then there are TONS of fast-food restaurants in the student union, which admittedly, is on the other side of campus -- but a bus whould get you there very quickly and give you a nice break from school.

I'm still waiting to read an out-of-stater's review. I spoke to one east-coast ivy grad who was also considering Penn and as we talked I kept thinking 'Dude, there is no way you're going to choose this school. What were you thinking?' He wasn't stuffy, but he was awfully hip in a way that I don't associate with Austin or Texas.

Like Pupienus, I don't really want to get into differences because at a certain point it's all a matter of preference. I don't think I'm going to be that great a fit at UT (not just because I'm old) but I think it's big enough that I'll be fine. I don't need my law school colleagues to like the same music/books/movies that I do - I just want them to be smart, considerate, and occasionally funny.

Another review, from a New Yorker:

I liked Austin a lot and could definitely see myself living there for 3 years.

As far as UT goes, I was most impressed with its quality of academics, advocacy programs, and clinical programs. I really do think that they're better than at most 10-14 schools.

However, I left with the impression that UT isn't the best fit for me. One big concern was the student body and the social community. Literally everyone that I met was genuinely nice and friendly; it was the greatest concentration of nice and friendly people that Iíve experienced in my life. However, I found both the prospective and current students with whom I interacted to be sort of plain and uninteresting. Few people seemed hip or eclectic or offbeat in any way, from looks to personalities to interests. In short, I didnít meet anyone who I was interested in getting to know better. Furthermore, the social community seemed largely built around keggers, booze cruises, and bar reviews at typical college bars. While I enjoyed it for a couple years in college, Iím quite bored with that scene at this point and was put off by its prevalence.

Archival, I envy that fitting in is of little concern to you. Generally, it also would be of little concern to me. However, when combined with moving far away from family and friends, embarking upon a long distance relationship, getting used to being a student again, and getting over various aspects of culture shock, if you will, I'm not too eager to have to put in extra effort to make a handful of friends in greater Austin.

I had a couple of other meaningful concerns about UT as well. I'm interested in public service, and UT appeared to devote far fewer resources to public interest than its competitor schools. I was hoping that, despite the lack of LRAP, the school would have a more cohesive public interest community. Less importantly, I value school leadership, and I thought that Dean Goode was not a particularly good speaker and very underwhelming in his vision for the school. Of course, he is only an interim dean.

Anyway, those are some of my thoughts. Thanks for showing me a good time, Austin.

EDIT: For context, I'm only 22, despite not coming straight from undergrad.

Funny enough, I heard the observation that Austin had 'too many Americans, not enough Texans'

I enjoyed my time at the PSD (nice to get some heat and sun finally) and feel pretty confident on my decision to go to UT.

Couldn't help but look around and wonder who on this board was there. Tried to put your tiny avatar picture to a face tralala haha.

One of the more interesting moments for me was when some current students sat down at my table after lunch (they were raiding the leftovers) and one said something to the effect of "I think your class is going to have a good group of hot girls, last year was a bit short, and this upcoming year looks to be good."

No doubt, I was pleasantly surprised by the female PSDers. However, I expect much more from the undergrads. My girlfriend would never let me go to UT if she saw the girls that were walking around campus.

At PSD, I was a little turned off by how often the current students talked about FREE FOOD at the law school. I suppose it's to be expected; but it feels really tacky after growing accustomed to the corporate world. Whatever... I'm sure I'll revert to my free-pizza-snacking / free-t-shirt-nabbing ways in no time.

I've heard the free food talk at several admitted days...it does seem childish to me as well.

I am really shocked by the "not enough funky vibe" talk. Austin is full of funky vibe, you just have to look for it. I don't know that law students are going to provide it, but come on...it's a law school. Lawyers are not the funkiest people in the general population.

Also, the self-selection argument is correct. I know non-Texans often don't get it, but most Texans love Texas and plan to stay here. A lot of people from other states also want to live in the state where they grew up, it is no different in Texas. People have contacts, loved ones etc. I have friends who have chosen UT over Harvard and Columbia. Not everyone wants to move across the country to go to a "better" school or a "better firm" after school. In the same way, I can understand why people from other parts of the country wouldn't want to come here. If I was from the NE, I would probably want to stay there too.